LA Galaxy Free-Fall Continues With 5-2 Loss to Portland

The LA Galaxy visited the Portland Timbers during this set of mid-week MLS action. The Angelino team was coming off a demoralizing defeat against new rivals, LAFC. The G’s were hoping to bounce back from defeat against arguably an even trickier opponent than their LA rivals. The Portland Timbers were coming into the game in third place of the Western Conference and were hoping to keep that position steady.

Of course, things did not start off well for the Galaxy. The Timbers came out showing just why they are the third-place team in the standings and in the process showcasing why LA Galaxy are in dead last place. The first half was disastrous for the Southern California team. Within the first six minutes, Timbers forward Jaroslaw Niezgoda already had the home team up 1-0. By the 19^th minute of play, he had scored his second of the night. The Portland team didn’t stop there however and tacked on another one in the 30^th minute via penalty kick.

Despite this, the Galaxy came back from the second half determined to do something about their situation. It only took 12 seconds from the start of the second half for them to respond with a goal by their star player, Christian Pavon. For the next ten minutes after that goal, it seemed like the Galaxy meant business, inching ever closer to that second goal. Unfortunately for them, that burst of focus and determination was not sustainable and broke down soon after. In the 60^th minute of play, the Galaxy efforts were squashed for good when midfielder Eryk Williamson scored the fourth goal of the night for the Timbers. From there on it was once again the Timbers ballgame. They continued to dominate the rest of the game, scoring another goal in the 74^th minute to make it a 5-1 game. This last goal was courtesy of an amazing volley from recent sub, Andy Polo. In the 90^th minute of play, to finish out the game, Pavon was able to find the net once again to end the game at 5-2.

With this loss, the LA Galaxy will fly back home still in last place, and with many fans asking themselves, ‘when will it stop’. General Manager Dennis te Kloese stated during the game that their intention was to finish out the season as best they could, before considering any changes needed for the organization. If he stays true to his word, Galaxy fans will have to wait until the offseason to see the type of changes the Galaxy will be making to turn the team around. The silver lining here is that the off-season would only be three games away, as it now seems highly unlikely that the team will qualify for the playoffs this year.